Bird Dates

Rob and I are trying to be a little bit creative and somewhat frugal in our dates. We try to ignore the fact that there are so many great bands coming to town this summer and so many delicious eateries to try out. Instead, we are trying to take in the budget friendly activities around us. Specifically, we have enjoyed walking around the beautiful lakes of the Twin Cities and just taking in the nature. Far from boring, it has proven to be quite interesting. The other day we were walking around Central Lake, when we came across this bird:

 

Say what? Yes, that is exactly what we said. Unfortunately, neither of us had our camera with us to document this peculiar looking bird. At first, we were a little scared, but then we were just intrigued. What the heck kind of bird is this you might ask? That's what we asked google. Google told us that it was a black-crowned heron. Apparently this type of bird is common in Texas. What you miss in this photo is how large this bird is and how it virtually has no neck.

On another date night, we came across a larger fowl bird. We didn't know what it was either, but we asked a passerby who was as intrigued as we were by the bird. He said it was likely a blue heron. Rob took this photo with his spiffy camera.

One night, after we had finished grilling, we had another bird join us on the patio. We had some fun snapping senior portraits of this bird. This bird is a regular at Larpenteur Estates; we often hear his high pitched screeching and look outside to see if we can catch a glimpse.  Up until recently, we thought this bird was a hawk. However, one of our neighbors informed us that it is a perregrine falcon. We're still undecided about this species of bid.